17 Comments
May 28, 2022Liked by ZM Spalter

Beautiful post Zakia. By any chance have you read Aisha Tyler's memoir? Similar lunch experiences but Bay Area version 😊. To study Japanese cuisine and its history is a revelation that stays with you.

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May 23, 2022Liked by ZM Spalter

what a gift for mother gave you and I wonder how it's helped you slide so easily between cultures as an adult. ..umeboshi onigiri - my favorite too!

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May 20, 2022Liked by ZM Spalter

Super cute story. Sounds like Noah’s stories of his lunch: bean sprouts with cheddar or tofu and mustard. I had to make my own lunch and those were super weird cause I too only had multigrain bread and no “American snacks”.

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May 20, 2022Liked by ZM Spalter

I know I must have failed somewhere. I can live on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, with potato chips as a side dish.

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May 20, 2022Liked by ZM Spalter

I see your tofu and bean sprout sandwiches and raise you vegemite and alpha alpha sprout sandwiches extracted from a plastic lunchbox having sat in a humid, partially covered NZ school breezeway for the 2.5 hours before lunchtime. At leat tofu is filling! Where were you when I was in 2nd grade Zakia!?

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I grew up in Kansas. When my father left, my mom would put one piece of roast in a roasting pan with about a million pinto beans. The meat would flavor the beans and we would eat beans all week, long after the meat was gone. I love pinto beans to this day! I cook them from dry often!

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May 20, 2022Liked by ZM Spalter

I know! I would put it in a different category.

Just next level! Don’t even need anything on it! Nom nom nom

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May 20, 2022Liked by ZM Spalter

My favorite piece! I grew up with multigrain bread as well and I still love it. And miss it so much here in Japan. Not as easy to get. ✌🏼

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